Select Bus Service
(B44 Limited)
Project Update
Dear merchants and
community members –
The Nostrand Avenue
Select Bus Service on the B44 limited route, Brooklyn’s very first, launched today, November 17, 2013! We want to be sure that the community is kept
fully aware of important updates, we urge you to share this information with
your neighboring merchants, customers and community members in general.
The B44 has been crowded and slow. Many of our customers and neighbors ride this bus and will benefit from its improvement.
We know that
construction and change in general can be confusing and we want to make sure
that you have the best access to information. For additional information about
the route, please see the latest newsletter from the NYC Department of Transporation
(DOT) and the project
page.
The agencies: City
Department of Transportation, Department of Design and Construction, and
Metropolitan Transit Authority joined NAMA on October 29, 2013 in our neighborhood
and provided us with the information contained below as well as answered
questions from a room full of merchants and community members.
Parking/Loading Zone
Changes:
In response to NAMA’s advocacy, a series of changes to parking and
loading zones will be going into effect shortly. These changes will allow for
easier access for deliveries by trucks and vans, and is the product, in part, of the desires expressed by merchants through the survey that NAMA co-sponsored during the Summer of 2011. The
signage for these zones is posted, and went into effect on November 2nd,
2013.
Trucks will have exclusive curb access to serve merchants on the west
side of Nostrand's commercial blocks on weekdays from 10am-12pm
and on the east side from 12pm-2pm. More
information available here.
A number of changes have already gone into effect along Nostrand and
Rogers Avenues to improve conditions both for businesses and commuters. For a
review of these changes, please see DOT’s project page. (en kreyòl ayisyen)
Also, in a change unrelated to the bus route, Muni Meters have been
installed on Nostrand between Hawthorne and Lefferts Avenue, filling in a
parking meter gap. Customers visiting businesses in
this area by car will now have greater opportunity to park because it will not
be permissible for anyone to leave a vehicle there all day.
Construction:
Construction is nearly complete along the length of Nostrand Avenue
between Eastern Parkway and Linden Boulevard. New machines for the off-board
fare collection – where you pay BEFORE getting on the bus – have been
installed at Empire Boulevard and Clarkson Avenue. New bus shelters are partially
installed there, with work expected to be completed by December.
The Select Bus Service throughout the Nostrand Avenue corridor is being
constructed in stages. The first stage involved the repaving and painting of
dedicated bus lanes, which is complete in our area. Dedicated bus lanes
allow bus traffic to run faster, encouraging travelers to take the bus. Further
information on bus lanes can be found below.
Nostrand Avenue also has benefited from new crosswalks, which are
lane lines painted to increase pedestrian safety. These investments will
be combined with newly constructed and configured bus stations. The stations feature “bus bulbs” that extend
the waiting area for passengers and allow buses to board without exiting the
bus lane. These provide for greater
consumer comfort when awaiting buses, and will make it easier for passengers to board the bus as well as speed up the boarding time, improving the bus service.
Changes for Drivers
To speed both the local and Select Bus, bus lanes are ONLY FOR BUS
TRAFFIC during posted hours, which are normally during peak travel times, weekdays at: 7a.m.
to 10a.m. and to 4p.m. to 7p.m. Vehicles
making right turns or dropping people at the curb are allowed briefly to be in
the bus lane. Those who drive, park or stand in bus lanes when they are not
permitted are subject to fines. Bus
lanes will be enforced primarily by cameras but also by traffic cops and the
NYPD. For more information, see DOT’s brochure on Bus Lanes. (en kreyòl ayisyen)
*If you have ANY questions about the
construction process or timeline, please contact Emily Campbell, who is
the Community Construction Liaison. Her phone is (718)
942-5017 and her email is nostrandavenuesbsccl<at>gmail.com
We've come a long way!
In construction
Crosswalk in progress to make it safer for pedestrians
Street re-paving performed at night to minimize disruption.
Bus bulb construction
Before
Community residents cleaning up garbage that collected underneath the
scaffolding at the MTA substation – at a clean-up event sponsored by NAMA and
PLGNA! Following our advocacy, scaffolding
has been removed.
Condition before repaving
Note the ancient parking meters and the double-parked truck
NAMA's Transportation Committee has been working hard since 2010.
